Indonesian President Joko Widodo held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday on enhancing economic ties and co-operation in defence and maritime security.
Widodo who is on his first visit to India since he assumed office in 2014, held discussions with Modi at New Delhis Hyderabad House.
“We agreed to prioritise defence and security co-operation,” Modi told reporters alongside Widodo following the talks, adding the partnership would extend to combating terrorism, organised crime, drugs and human trafficking.
The countries agreed to co-operate to ensure the safety and security of sea lanes, in disaster response and environmental protection.
“The president and I also agreed to build a strong economic and development partnership that strengthens the flow of ideas, trade,
capital and people,” Modi added.
Besides the joint statement on maritime co-operation, the two sides also signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on co-operation in the areas of youth and sports, and standardisation.
The agreement on maritime co-operation assumes significance as several Southeast Asian nations have problems with China over the South China Sea.
In July, an international arbitration tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled that China violated the Philippines’ rights in the South China Sea, one of the busiest commercial shipping routes in the world.
The court accused China of interfering with the Philippines’ fishing and petroleum exploration, building artificial islands in the waters and failing to prevent Chinese fishermen from fishing in the zone.
China reacted angrily, calling the verdict null and void with no binding force and that “China neither accepts it nor recognises it”.
But Beijing has since decided to go for bilateral talks with Manila.
Indonesia, the largest of the Southeast Asian nations, however, does not have any such issue with China.
Modi said that Indonesia was one of India’s most valued partners in its Act East Policy.
“It is the largest economy in Southeast Asia. And, India is one of the fastest growing large economies in the world,” he said.
The prime minister said that he and Widodo agreed to build a strong economic and development partnership that strengthened the flow of ideas, trade, capital and people between our two countries.
“I agreed with President Widodo to encourage Indian companies to work closely with Indonesia in the fields of pharmaceuticals, IT and software, and skill development,” he said.
“As two developing countries, we also decided to move on infrastructure development two-way investment flows leveraging our respective capabilities.”
Modi said that both sides agreed for the early implementation of India-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) free trade agreement in services and investment, and finalisation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
“We also underscored the importance of deepening our two decades old valuable cooperation in the field of space,” he said.
He also welcomed Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia’s decision to commence direct flights between Jakarta and Mumbai as it would help boost people-to-people contacts.
On his part, Widodo said that Indonesia wanted to increase bilateral trade ties and also diversify exports to India.
Widodo later met President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari.
Earlier in the day, Widodo was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan.




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